INDIANAPOLIS -- Guatemalan immigrant Pedro Rigoberto Jimenez knows the value of an American driver's license, an ID so prized that prosecutors say thousands of people across the country have turned to bribery and forgery to get one.
One of Jimenez's first trips when he moved to Indiana from California in 2001 was to a state Bureau of Motor Vehicles office. Jimenez, 61, says he had proper documentation as a legal immigrant, but he understands the lure of the state-issued ID to some in the country illegally: It often is needed to open a checking account, rent an apartment or get a job.
''They need legal papers, and not everybody has legal papers,'' Jimenez said. ''For them it's very, very different. It's impossible to get a driver's license.''
Jimenez supports efforts to deal with concerns about illegal immigration and homeland security by toughening rules on how driver's licenses are issued.
Last year, 45 states considered legislation to tighten security at their motor vehicle agencies, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
''There are a number of states that have had issues with unscrupulous employees on the take,'' said Jason King, a spokesman for the Arlington, Va.-based American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. ''All state DMVs have been taking a look at their business practices.''
Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan has ordered additional review of documents from foreign nationals after prosecutors say as many as 1,000 people paid BMV employees to accept fraudulent documents in exchange for driver's licenses. Since November, at least four state employees have been charged with bribery and official misconduct.
''The demand is so great, people are willing to pay great sums of money,'' said Manuel Gonzalez, president of the Indiana State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. ''A driver's license has become kind of a currency. BMV people were making a lot of income from this illegally.''
State workers involved in the scheme took a couple of hundred dollars each time they accepted fraudulent documents, said Carl Brizzi, the Marion County prosecutor whose office has overseen the investigation.
Other states are dealing with the same problem. Two Virginia clerks were sentenced in December to federal prison terms after helping up to 1,000 people obtain fraudulent licenses.
Seventeen New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission employees were among 136 people charged last year for theft and fraud involving illegal driver's licenses and other activity. At least 71 have pleaded guilty, some being sentenced up to 10 years in prison.
In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fulfilled a campaign promise by repealing a law allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.
Tennessee's governor has called on the Legislature to prohibit illegal immigrants from getting licenses and, instead, allow a certificate that would authorize driving but not serve as a legal ID.
Brizzi said that although most people in the Indiana scheme wanted a license to establish residency, others could have had more sinister intentions.
''Probably a vast majority of them -- 99 percent of them -- are not going to be involved in some terrorist activity. But when you have numbers like this it only takes one,'' Brizzi said. ''Trying to guess what their motives are shouldn't be an option.''
Kernan has required each of Indiana's 170 license branches to send documents submitted by foreign nationals to a central office so they can be checked against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services records. Those submissions had been reviewed by each branch on its own.
If the central office finds the documents to be valid, licenses will be mailed to the recipient, a process that could take several days.
King, the motor vehicle administrators' group spokesman, said that approach makes sense.
''We can't be an expert in everything,'' he said. ''Do our employees know what a Chinese birth certificate looks like? probably not.''
King said the growing importance of a driver's license puts more pressure on state licensing agencies to tighten security.
As technologies for forging evolve, it becomes more difficult for states to determine the validity of documents. King said the best that states can do is try to keep one step ahead of the forgers.
''There is no foolproof method for preventing driver's license fraud,'' he said. ''This is an issue that will never go away.''
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